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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

....in your tool box or in your shop which you resent having spent money on or building yourself? No need to name specific manufacturers or vendors, simply explain why you feel it didn't perform or do what you thought it would when you got it.

I personally have no need or use for string stretching gimmicks, sticks, wheels, or any variant. Unless you are manipulating tension to the yeild point or past, pysics dictates you are not stretching the string. Conforming the string to its bearing points better can be done by simply being careful on installation.

As for an indispensible tool I just don't leave home without, I have a german made flat blade screwdriver which is finely split diagonally up the shank and out to the tip. It has a collar which when slid forward, lets the blade firmly grip the screw in its slot, better than any other type of screw holding driver I've seen. The screw can be worked past obsticles without it popping off like magnetic or claw held types.

The one piece rubber gang mute never worked so well. Neither did the rubber muting strip, as it got dirty, then hard, then began to crack…..

The clamp for the hammer head and butt extractor. In 1974 one of the first things I did was take out the hinge pin of the clamp and used an electric wire feed to weld the two pieces to a set of long nose vice grips….. then some ten years later I am looking at a supply catalogue and the new tool is a vice grip clamp for the hammer head and butt extractor…..

The tuning pin crank. I could never get that one to work like it should.

I have this wooden-handled lever with a star tip. Every time I tune a piano I end up fighting with the darn thing for over an hour. Seems like they could invent a tool that does it faster.

Just be patient. I'm working on a gasoline engine model that will spin the star tip one way or the other with great ease. At this development stage I'm working on the clutching mechanism to get some finesse in the movement. Once I get the muffler system perfected and the weight reduced, It'll be ready for the orders to come streaming in.

I bought one of those fancy coiler tools years ago. I think it was called a Scoritino Insta-coiler when I bought it. I don't use it at all anymore. Winding wire on a dummy pin turned out to be easier and more precise.

Just be patient. I'm working on a gasoline engine model that will spin the star tip one way or the other with great ease. At this development stage I'm working on the clutching mechanism to get some finesse in the movement. Once I get the muffler system perfected and the weight reduced, It'll be ready for the orders to come streaming in.

Are you taking pre-orders? Of course, some customers might complain about the gasoline engine fumes in their home; but hey, you can't win 'em all.

I am fortunate to not (yet) have any tools that I feel like have been a complete waste of money. Although I did learn my lesson the first time I bought large quantities of string for a restringing project; I stored the coils with some other materials in my basement, and the damp air rusted them over in a matter of weeks.

As far as indispensable - I don't use them all the time, but I love the Spurlock soundboard cleaning tools. I found out about them on this forum, and picked up a set last year sometime. Combined with a nifty $3 handheld vacuum I got at a flea market, I can clean out a grand piano in no time now.

I second Jeff's notion on the backcheck benders. I have had to do some serious grinding to get my bent backcheck regulator (Schaff #472) to work at all.

Also, I second BDB, I haven't managed to find a spoon bender that actually works for compact (console) actions. I haven't used my Schaff #85 once. I was very grateful for Bill Bremmer's posting on how to set damper timing out of the piano.

While it's still sort of a pain to use, I've found that the japanese style spoon bender:

Can work pretty well in the piano if you introduce a shallow bend to it. A 30ish degree bend up (soon after the section that fits into the combo handle) gives you enough clearance to be able to bend spoons in and out without the handle bottoming out against the keys. That and some tape or other visual indication on the tool itself to let you know how far back to go before contacting the spoons helps speed the process up, too.

I bought a loop making tool and I was never able to make a loop with it. I broke the string every time I tried, and I finally gave up. Still have it though, in case I need to break some strings and cant find cutters:)

Yes, the only loop making tool that works for me is the one which is simply a dowel with a hole through it and a screw next to it. I have not found a tool that works well for English loops, although I have an idea.

Ha, yes the problem with the looping machine was not the machine itself, but the instructions. I am presuming the machine being referred to is the one sold by APSCO and then later by Schaff.

If the instructions are followed in reverse the loops come out almost perfectly. If the instructions are followed the machine pinches the wire against the anvil and the wire breaks.

Here is a blog posting I did about the APSCO looping machine in 2011. At the bottom of the posting there is a photo album. Please right click and choose “open in new tab”. Done this way one can toggle back and forth between the blog posting and the photo set.

Also with each photo there are comments and instructions in the tray in the right hand side. Once I reversed the instructions that come with the unit everything worked out.

So far, I've found my bass winding tightening tool to be less than useless.

Schaff #262? I use mine fairly often. The last time was Sunday. It was not for a bass string, but a tied treble note which slipped off the hitch pin. I do not use it much for twisting bass strings, but whenever I need to put a string back on a hitch pin, it is really handy.

When I went to school for piano tuning our first tools came with a small Kennedy tool box. The thing is indestructible but doesn't hold a lot and isn't very practical for a tuner. However I used it for years until I got smart a recently and now I keep all my tools in an old flour sack. I lose tools frequently now because it's ripping out at the bottom but at least I don't have to carry that heavy tool box anymore. :p

I do not use the jig to glue hammers (Spurlock). Having access to the hammers allows a better gluing, in my opinion.

it is useful for vertical hammers, however, so I use it for that.

Some of the English made handle/blade tools sold in the 80's are badly designed and made in second grade steel. none of them have survived. German made tools did.But today you can buy tools that look neat but break when they are used, from some German providers as well.

I do not use anymore the hammer extractor that use a bolt, pliers are way more efficient (Apsco style)

and also those tuning tips where only a strip inside the tip have the star shape. they wear fast and rock soon on the pin.

No more use of the Mannino style reamers, too agressive, and generally useless as the cloth can be burnished to size usually, or changed if too much worn (the result of corroded centers, the cloth is only too much compressed at one loctation in most situations)

WIth time , I use less and less tools, when going on site.

Edited by Olek (03/08/1412:10 PM)

_________________________
Professional of the profession.

I wish to add some kind and sensitive phrase but nothing comes to mind.!

While it's still sort of a pain to use, I've found that the japanese style spoon bender:

Can work pretty well in the piano if you introduce a shallow bend to it. A 30ish degree bend up (soon after the section that fits into the combo handle) gives you enough clearance to be able to bend spoons in and out without the handle bottoming out against the keys. That and some tape or other visual indication on the tool itself to let you know how far back to go before contacting the spoons helps speed the process up, too.

Yes it is a very good tool for some actions. sold in 2 versions, for smaller actions (more bend))and more standard ones.

On old actions sometime not enough space to use it, the S shaped spoon bender is standard (action inclined)

Edited by Olek (03/08/1412:15 PM)

_________________________
Professional of the profession.

I wish to add some kind and sensitive phrase but nothing comes to mind.!

Ha, yes the problem with the looping machine was not the machine itself, but the instructions. I am presuming the machine being referred to is the one sold by APSCO and then later by Schaff.

If the instructions are followed in reverse the loops come out almost perfectly. If the instructions are followed the machine pinches the wire against the anvil and the wire breaks.

Here is a blog posting I did about the APSCO looping machine in 2011. At the bottom of the posting there is a photo album. Please right click and choose “open in new tab”. Done this way one can toggle back and forth between the blog posting and the photo set.

Also with each photo there are comments and instructions in the tray in the right hand side. Once I reversed the instructions that come with the unit everything worked out.

I thought it was a machine to make the long twisted loops. (that one is really easy to use and make automatically the last coils)

But those German loops are so much faster to do by hand on a hook, or even using round nose pliers, I do not see much interest to use that sort of setup. They may be tighter when done by hand , also, and if you know how to make the simple loop you will do the double one easily)

Edited by Olek (03/08/1412:23 PM)

_________________________
Professional of the profession.

I wish to add some kind and sensitive phrase but nothing comes to mind.!

My mistake there. What I meant was the instructions that come with the unit for making the German loops are not so good. But if the instructions are used in reverse, going counter clockwise instead of clockwise then the German loops come out real good.

So far, I've found my bass winding tightening tool to be less than useless.

Schaff #262? I use mine fairly often. The last time was Sunday. It was not for a bass string, but a tied treble note which slipped off the hitch pin. I do not use it much for twisting bass strings, but whenever I need to put a string back on a hitch pin, it is really handy.

hi Dan, I see, my looping machine is different , may be more practical. The length of the twisted part is regulated, as with yours, but the part that make the coils have a pressure handle to hold the wire during the twisting. Then when you have enough twists you release a little and the coils are made. If well setup the coils are made automatically without releasing but it is useful to be able to master the amount of twisting.

Those machines are easy to use but if too much twist are done the wire may break. a little training is necessary.

best wishes

_________________________
Professional of the profession.

I wish to add some kind and sensitive phrase but nothing comes to mind.!